To me this is par for the course. Corpos steal from you before you get it (wage theft), and “charity” manipulates you into the same, but you’re a “willing” participant in the process of having your money taken.

Pretty much everyone who is classifiably “rich” has gotten there by taking a small amount from a large number of people, usually on an ongoing timeline. The formula hasn’t changed. If you don’t have a hundred people giving you a small amount consistently, you’re probably not going to become rich.

As someone who worked in an office with relatively low walked cubicles, it’s very disruptive to work that requires a level of concentration.

There are no screws.

… those are nails

That’s truly surprising.

Thanks for sharing.

Honestly, I didn’t expect that Epic would be okay with this.

It’s nice to see, and bluntly, after a game has gone through all the different stages of buying and owning, why not make it free? Makes it that much easier for nostalgia nerds to have awesome LAN parties.

I don’t think this makes up for the long list of consumer hostile things that Epic has done, but it doesn’t hurt.

The next thing I’d like to see is to have games open sourced when stuff like this happens and the game is well into obsolescence. At least someone can pick up the mantle that studios don’t want to have anything to do with, when it comes to making the game compatible with newer operating systems, or alternative operating systems (like Linux, though I think UT supported Linux), or so that it can be built for new architectures like Apple’s new arm based silicon.

There’s no profit in the game anymore, so just let people have it so they can fix what you don’t care about anymore.

How dare you!

I made the foolish mistake of thinking things had finally started to make sense when Netflix happened, and I got my hopes up that going legit would be viable.

Oh well

I’ve been back to the high seas for a while.

Before I get into it, I’ll give an honourable mention to the RIAA/music industry, which is largely just putting all of the music on every platform and letting users choose which one they want to use. This is the way, and I’m happy to pay one service to get access to the stuff I actually want to hear.

Back to video/MPAA. Are you all on crack? I saw this coming back when Netflix was the only licensed media game on the internet… I was subscribed and enjoying some shows, the shows then… Went away, they disappeared. After looking into it, the show I was enjoying was pulled when a copyright was revoked by the publisher, so Netflix no longer had the right to distribute the show.

I saw the writing on the wall. That publisher was going to make their own Netflix competitor with their stuff on it, to try to extort more profit from the streaming stuff. Clearly their c-suite thought that people would be willing to pay for just their content separately from Netflix. I saw that writing and noped right the fuck out. Grabbed my tri-point hat and flag from storage and set sail, and I’ve never looked back.

The copyright holding asshats, ruined internet streaming, because everyone wanted to be their own thing. They splintered the entire online streaming thing into a bunch of disparate platforms all with some subset of the media available via streaming. It’s worse than cable, honestly.

IMO, the only good move that’s happened for streaming (but horrible for so many other reasons) was Disney gobbling up all the other media studios and production companies, then putting all their stuff on one service. There’s a few holdouts, but by and large the two biggest players right now are Netflix (the OG) and Disney (+)… So a bunch of good media ended up on D+, and so it’s kind of “the” streaming service… For better or worse (mostly worse, as OP points out).

I’m still firmly on my ship, sailing the high seas. Unless they go the way of music, and allow all shows on every platform and you pick your platform based on your preferences, I’ll stay on this ship. Thanks.

Hey, don’t point it out! People are blissfully ignorant of how much they are owned. Don’t try to educate them.

• corporations, probably.

Mine are.

One thing that was recommended to me by someone a while ago, is that, unless you need it for something specific, mount your media in Plex as read only.

Plex has functions where you can delete content from the library from their UI. If you need that for some reason, obviously don’t make it read only. If you’re hoarding the data, and therefore never delete it, or use an external system for deleting files, then RO all the way.

The only caveat to this is if you’re using a local disk on the Plex system, which then shares out the drive/folder for adding new content, in which case, you’re screwed. It has to be rw so the OS can add/remove data.

In my case, as I think may be common (or at least, not rare), my back end data for Plex Media is on a NAS, so it’s easy to simply have the system running Plex, mount that network share as RO, and you’re done. The data on the NAS can be accessed and managed by other systems RW, direct to the NAS.

Since Plex is exposed to the internet, if anyone with sufficient rights is compromised, in theory, an attacker could delete the entire contents of your media folder with it. If you limit RW access to internal systems only, then that risk can be effectively mitigated.

Depends on the UPS. Many cheap offline UPS units don’t. Anything line interactive or online will.

APC makes low end offline UPS units, which are cheap garbage.

They also make line interactive and online ups units, which are decidedly not completely garbage.

I pick up line interactive APC units from used locations like eBay, and go buy off label replacement batteries. Haven’t had any problems with them so far.

To date, over the last ~10 years of running a homelab, I have used mainly SMT 1500 units, one was a rack mount. I’ve recently upgraded to an SMX2000. I’ve replaced batteries, but never a UPS, and never any server components due to power issues. I’ve run servers ranging from a Dell PE 2950, to a full c6100 chassis, plus several networking devices, including firewalls, routers and PoE switches. Not a single power related issue with any of them.

At this point, “centrist” is slang for, “I want to argue for what I believe in under the guise of being the ‘Devils advocate’”.

Remember you absolutely must not go to these specific sites.

Do not do it.

See you all tomorrow for class.

But how else is he going to pay for his yacht… I mean, pay to feed his children… Yeah, that’s relatable with millennials and zoomers that are so far in debt and earning so little that they can’t afford kids, right?

I made this decision when I purchased a house… Or rather, the bank purchased it, I just live here and pay them instead of a landlord.

I went with DeWalt and I don’t really have any regrets. I had one of the really basic 12v drills from them for like 10+ years. It mostly rattled around my car’s trunk during that time. I’ve purchased two additional batteries for it, one was shortly after I bought it, so I’d always have a charged battery on hand, the other to keep on the drill. When I needed to swap, I’d just take the dead battery into my home at the end of the day and charge it overnight, then dump it back in the car the next day.

I used it mainly for computer stuff, since I work in that industry… Racking equipment in server racks, opening computers, etc. Rarely did I need to actually make holes or anything with it… The third battery was purchased when the original battery that came with it, stopped working. The drill and two remaining batteries still work fine, though I don’t really need/use them anymore.

I might “donate” it to a young relative someday, for now it collects dust in my basement.

When I replaced it, I got all 20v DeWalt everything. I bought a pack of tools that came with a couple of fairly basic battery chargers, a couple batteries, a hammer drill, impact driver, reciprocating saw, oscillating tool, a circular saw, and a portable light… It even came with a carry bag, which was promptly tossed in a corner and hasn’t been touched since, except to kick it further into the corner.

After a short while of owning the house, we added a small (additional) set of batteries… I think 3 more? And picked up lawn equipment that’s also 20v from DeWalt. A string trimmer (aka a “whipper snipper”), and a hedge trimmer. I feel like I’m forgetting something… Oh well.

The odd man out, so to speak, is the lawnmower, we ended up picking up a DeWalt mower, but it’s 20v/60v, so it will take either pack. We had all 20v so we just stuck with that.

Then, I think last year? DeWalt released a snowblower, but it’s 60v only. So we had to get specific batteries just for that. The 60v ones are compatible with the 20v tools, but the blower will only take the 60v packs, so we have two 60v packs for it (and the lawnmower, I suppose, since they can take advantage of the extra juice), and 20v packs for everything else.

Everything is cross compatible, with the one exception of the snowblower, so we’re all set.

My experience with the 12v drill heavily biased me towards sticking with DeWalt.

I won’t tell anyone to buy DeWalt or Milwaukee, or any other brand. You’ll have to make that decision got yourself. I don’t have any strong feelings about other brands because I simply don’t have the experience with them to have an opinion… Except Ryobi. Fuck Ryobi. My brother used Ryobi for a long time, and he had nothing good to say about them besides the fact that their tools are cheap. They’re cheap in every way. You’ll spend more trying to keep them working than you’ll spend simply by buying better tools. Don’t do it.

We’re basically the same age. That’s entertaining to me. I can’t really explain why, it just is.

I want to strongly express that I do understand where you’re coming from. I get it.

I still think that a non-monetary society would work. Again, it will not be tried, but I believe it would work.

At this point however, I believe that you understand me and I understand you, we simply disagree. That’s fine, it’s what makes society great and life worth living; our differences. It would be so boring if we all thought the same and had the same opinions.

I want to thank you for the discourse and echoes my gratitude for the civil discussion. I really do mean that, though, through text, it might seem like sarcasm, I promise that it is not.

I wish you the best and I hope you have a great and productive life ahead, good fortune, and good health. As I’m sure you know, at our age, health starts getting harder to maintain.

At the end of the day, despite our differences, I like you. You’re articulate and well spoken and you’ve been a pleasure to have a conversation with. If you want to discuss anything further, feel free, or if you want to take this off of the public view, I believe I have my matrix account linked in my profile. I would welcome anything further you wish to say or discuss.

Be well.

Your while argument about it still being work is basically what I was driving at, so thank you. You can perform work, without being paid for it.

I would disagree that such things are not scalable. In your mind maybe, since you seem to be hellbent on punishing those that do not contribute. If you’re instead more caring and compassionate, and realize that many jobs are little more than make-work (where you’re there simply to do thing that otherwise wouldn’t be done, especially in a society without currency), then the actual workforce doesn’t need to be nearly as large. A huge portion of labor is dedicated to accounting for and compensating others for their contributions. Think about it. Pretty much all accountants, tax adjusters, government jobs relating to dispensing funds for unemployment, retirement, disabilities, etc. A huge portion of the workforce isn’t necessary in that context. Oversight to ensure things get finished is still needed, just to ensure that people stay organized working on larger projects, but nobody needs to worry about scheduling or working out how many hours + overtime you accrue. Most shops which currently warehouse and sell products, like grocery stores, all their cashier’s and such, gone. Only direct service restaurants need anyone working there for customer interactions. A huge portion of the workforce would end up “unemployed” (with nothing to do), but retain all the benefits of having a job. Food, shelter, healthcare…

People would be free to educate themselves with college or university without the crippling debts associated with such endeavours. They could play to their strengths and do what they love doing, rather than what they’re forced to do because they selected a major without fully understanding the job that they would be doing after graduation, and don’t have enough money to go back and pick something they actually like doing.

As much as I don’t agree with you, I understand what you’re driving at. You’re stuck on personal responsibility for your contributions, so that people don’t freeload along with everyone else. I understand and I accept there will be freeloaders. I’m not angry about it, it’s a fact. All I’m trying to express is that I believe that there will be enough able and willing people doing the job anyways, that we would be fine. Taking pride in their local communities, their achievements, the state/region/province in which they live, and the country they live in, to want to make it the best it can be. That motivation, IMO, is enough to keep things going.

Call me an idealistic fool. Think what you want of me. It’s fine. I don’t take offense. I know it won’t happen so the entire argument is moot. The ruling elite class will their hundreds of billions in accumulated wealth won’t allow anything to threaten their dominance over our day to day lives. Their ability to tell us where to go and what to do as a function of our “jobs” which are inexorably linked to our livelihoods and survival.

It won’t happen, they won’t let it.

Work (verb): “be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a result; do work.”

No mention of compensation or pay.

For your nurse example, I know nurses that would absolutely do it for free, they enjoy working with their patients and helping them.

For me, I work in IT, if I didn’t need to make money to live, I would still do what I do without pay, simply to help others with their complex computer problems.

Just because you don’t “get” it, and/or, can’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t something that many of us would take on. A lot of blue collar workers and even many white collar workers (especially non-owner/non-management types), just want to live a life that they can be proud of. We need to earn money to pay for the things that allow us to continue to live, but beyond that, couldn’t give any less of a shit about money.

Your world view is flawed, your understanding of the collective consciousness of workers is incorrect.

The jobs that would have nobody working them, would be jobs that are generally horrible to do. Especially toxic work environments, usually due to bad management. Making people’s lives horrible because you treat them like trash would be a death sentence, because if people don’t need to work for you to live, and you treat them like human garbage, then you will have nobody working for you.

These principles are pretty well founded. There are communities that have survived with little to no money or transactions happening (mainly only when dealing with outsiders), where members of the community do some sort of work for the community (maybe farming, plumbing, electrical, construction, etc) with no direct compensation, and in return, they gain all the benefits of the community. Hot meals, a warm home, etc.

These communes have existed, usually they’re associated with extreme isolation and other such conditions, but they take care of eachother without the need for any monetary system.

In many first world countries, the USA especially, people are isolated from eachother. Each person is so aggressively independent that a monetary system is basically a requirement to answer the question of “what’s in it for me?” In a more community focused setting, you pay it forward at every step. You do whatever work for the people in the community, and the community at large “pays” you back with their services and hospitality. This is not a question, it is an expectation of such members of a community like that.

For my work, my “boss”/manager is basically setting up and managing systems that I can use to help people with their issues, so I can focus on what I’m good at. Aside from the money that changes hands because we all need to pay rent and buy food, our jobs wouldn’t change under a system that has no monetary system. There’s still a demand and we fulfill that demand as best we can.

We’ll never get to the level of community we would need to get away from money systems unless that money system entirely crashes, and people keep doing their jobs for free to make sure that everything doesn’t go down with the money system.

Our money system, with the global banks and fiat currency, is basically a bubble. It is obligated to continue to grow or it will collapse. I won’t go into detail as to why, since this post is long enough, but needless to say, that kind of system is destined to fail since continual growth indefinitely is an unsustainable system. It’s only a matter of time. One decent documentary I know of on the subject, for further learning, is called “money as debt”. Take a look if you want to know more about our collective monetary systems. (Most of the world is using the same concepts and ideas in their money systems though that specific one, IIRC, is focused on the American money system)